Phoenix Union

Close Reading

When Every Word Counts

In our everyday lives, we don’t pay close attention to every word we read. We read for the gist of things, concentrating more on big ideas than on subtle shades of meaning, new vocabulary, and unusual turns of phrase. This is just as it should be. There’s too much information in the world for us to ponder every bit of it every time we skim the newspaper or scan a web page.

Read Like a Reader, Read Like a Writer

An Organized Approach to Strategic Reading

Like many educators, I was attracted to the idea of strategic reading. Prior to learning about the strategic reading movement, I often felt that what I taught kids about reading never addressed the task of reading itself. I realize now that what I had in my teaching repertoire was a set of reading activities, things kids could do after they read something. By contrast, strategic reading gave me things I could teach kids to do while they read, things that would actually help them read better.

The Golden Line Activity

Meryem Kennedy sez...

One strategy I use in my class in reading is finding a golden line in a book. I give students about 10 minutes to read in class and ask them to pick a sentence that inspires them or speaks to them for whatever reason.